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Headline

Fitness-to-practise investigations make sick doctors sicker

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I can definitely confirm this experience. I have bipolar mood disorder, fortunately with insight. I had undertakings for about 7 years, which were getting rather repetitive and the undertakings were dropped.
The GMC thought it was useful that I would disclose my diagnosis to everyone on the workfloor. This got hopelessly out of hand whenn I worked in a prison. Of course the criminals got hold of the information and used it against me in complaints. I had to resign from the job. The GMC does not seem to realize that they are doing more harm than good.
More recently i had a manic episode which i recognized and treated myself with tha aid of my GP. Again a month later, when I finally got to see a psychiatrist, the psychiatrist felt it necessary to report it to the GMC. Up to that point I felt quite good, but of course this reporting caused a major relapse.
My Gp and treating psychiatrist judged me fit to work, but the GMC has it's own procedures.
Straight away words like supervision are mentioned, or 'maybe you shouldn't do home visits anymore'.
The only thing they actually achieve is that my resolution to change career and retire early have become even more resolute.
I only have a limited amount of emotional energy left so I am afraid I will have to work less and less, the more hassle I get from them. In the mean-time patients are left untreated and 13 ambulances are queing up at A&E.
Fortunately I speak quite a few foreign languages, so emigration still remains an option.
I do feel sorry for the native GP's though, who are stuck with this system. It feels very wrong to me.